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In this article:
- What is Dial-up Internet Access
- Availability and Performance
- High speed dial up
What is Dial-up Internet Access?
Dial-up internet access is a type of data access methodology whereby a user or client connects a computer with the help of a modem (modulator-demodulator) and a telephone line. Using this, it dials into the Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) node which lays down a modem-to-modem link which is then connected to the Internet. Dial up internet access has been in use since a long period of time and it is only now that other methods, particularly fast Broadband Internet connections are replacing it. Dial-up internet access has been the cheapest method for accessing the Internet since the beginning but now, other technologies, one of them being DSL subscription plans, are picking up.
Availability and Performance
A major attribute of dial up connections is that there is no need of any additional infrastructure or hardware except for the usual telephone network to implement it. This means that dial-up internet access has a very wide reach since telephones can be found at virtually all major cities at the least, making it widely popular. Dial up internet access is also suitable for use in rural or remote areas where it might be the only way of accessing the Internet since getting broadband connections to such placed would prove highly uneconomical. Dial-up access is a low cost alternative for people who cannot spend much on such services.
However, a major consideration with dial-up internet access is that such a connection usually requires a certain amount of time before it can allow uninterrupted access to the Internet. In this time, it tries to establish a stable telephone connection and performs a handshake (a type of authentication procedure). This has resulted in frustration to its user. Also, if the connection is charged on the basis of time the connection is on for, dial-up connections lead to an increase in the telephone bill as well.
Another problem with dial up access is that the connection can be ended by the user or by the ISP. This makes ISPs set a maximum time limit till which a person may stay connected after which the connection is terminated to help other users come online on the limited number of dial-in lines possessed by the ISP. This means that a reconnection has to take place along with the related delays and costs. An important advantage however is that it can be used with any telephone line as against a broadband connection which requires the use of special phone lines, typically, fiber optic cables.
The dial-up modems of today have a maximum speed of 56 kbit/s (kilobits per second) and they make use of the V.92 protocol. However, in the real world situation, only a speed of 53 kbit/s is achievable. However, these are only maximum speeds and define the upper limit of the speed that dial-up connections can achieve. Thus, actual usage speeds maybe very low and the average is somewhere between 33-43 kbit/s. Problems such as noise on the phone line (also called disturbances) and lower quality modems (whether internal or external) have a major impact on the actual connection speed achieved by a user.
High-speed dial-up
High-speed dial-up connections boast of higher speeds than conventional dial-up connections. However, these connections do not increase the bandwidth of a telephone line. They achieve comparatively higher speeds by using the available bandwidth in a more efficient manner. This includes reducing the time taken to perform the log-on and handshake as well as compressing the data that is being transferred over the connection line. All this ‘optimizing’ leads to an overall increase in the speed observed by the user. However, it is important to note that these speeds still do not allow applications such as streaming audio or video and playing games online, especially the ones heavy on system and connection speed requirements remain a far-fetched dream. Such high-speed dial-up connections are available from Earthlink and NetZero.
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